Other Hands Issue #29 and 30 Supplement

Realm of Bellakar THE REALM OF BELLAKAR 1 Other Hands Eric Dubourg: 7 Domaine du Château, 91380 Chilly Mazarin, NÚMENÓREAN COLONIZATION France ([email protected]) (SA 1-2029) Wesley J. Frank: 949 N Humphrey Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302- 1417, USA ([email protected]) As the Second Age drew on, other Men, hunters and herdsmen Chris Seeman: PO Box 1213, Novato, CA 94948-1213, USA from the mountains east of the great desert, established them- ([email protected]) selves along the coasts. Some taught themselves to sail the ocean in small but sturdy boats. They drew fish, squid and seal from the South of Gondor and Mordor lies the vast desert of Harad- waters. Others found patches of good land for farm and orchard; waith. Much of its western expanse lies under the dominion of they sustained themselves on wheat, olives, dates and grapes. Bellakar, a warlike kingdom of coasts and hills, lying between the The people who took their livelihood from the sea could also sail deepest of seas and the most barren of wastelands. Together with to other harbors. They began to trade amongst themselves, learn- the neighboring land of Raj (Bozisha-Miraz) to its southeast, ing the languages of other tribes. Scattered along hundreds of Gondorian maps label Bellakar “Far Harad” (as distinct from Ha- leagues of coastline, these people named themselves the Bel- ruzan or “Near Harad”). Bellakar boasts a mix of different cul- lanarod (sing. Bellanar). When Númenórean mariners first set tures: Númenórean, native Bellakaze, Aukuag tribesmen of the foot on the shores of Bellakar around 1100, they found a strong, desert, Bozishnarod from Raj, and a tribal people from the East village-dwelling people where the desert meets the sea. called the Tedjin. In such a varied realm, conflict seethes eter- Of their distant past the Bellanarod spoke little to the nally. Númenóreans, but in time the loremasters of the Dúnedain pieced together native myths and legends enough to recognize that the THE ELDER DAYS Bellanarod must have enjoyed some contact with the “Azunan,” the Elvish peoples, a gift they had thought peculiar to their race. According to ancient Southron legends, the land of Bellakar The name Bellakar itself appeared to have been derived from an was once verdant and lush. Vast forests covered its coastal re- Avarin equivalent to Belegaer, the Grey-elven name for the sea. gions, the most favored of them centered upon a mighty lake set Perhaps Felayja too, the Bellanara name for the coasts, originated amid the green hills. Further inland, forested highlands rose above from some Dark Elven form of Falas. But whatever connections endless expanses of grassy savanna and reed marsh. might once have existed between the fisher-folk and the Azunan The Cuind, a tribe of Dark Elves, were the first of the Free Peo- had long since fallen into oblivion, and eager Númenórean quests ples to wander the land, before the first rising of the sun, sharing to locate lost Elven tribes in the land met with no success. its starlit trails with Maiarin spirits, wild Hawnin Elves of Nan- The fisher-folk of the Bellanarod stood in awe of the dorin race, and a few clans of restless Dwarves. The Cuind Númenóreans, whose ships towered over them like the houses of founded the earliest settlements in Bellakar, dwelling in caves the gods. They allowed the Númenóreans to settle around their about the wooded shores of the great lake and in sheltered vales harbors and bays, learning from them and teaching them, in turn, scattered through the land. The most famous of these havens the wisdom of life on a desert coast. The clans who allowed the would later mark the legendary oasis of Khibil Êphalak. The Age of the Sun brought the awakening of Men into the newcomers to live among them acquired their lore and sometimes world. The mysterious Honnin (relatives of the Drughu) were the even mixed bloodlines with them. oldest race of the Secondborn to wander Bellakar extensively. Lit- As cities grew up around the Númenórean colonies, a perma- tle attracted to contact with other peoples, their only desire was nent social and political order came into being, identifiable as that for solitude and the carving of their watch-stones, a craft in which of the Bellakaranî, the people of Bellakar, distinct from other na- they excelled. Bellakar knew peace, as wild places knew it, until tions and tribes of Harad. In each Bellakarian city-state, a council the powers of the world fought a terrible war in distant Beleriand, of powerful elders decided matters of law and justice. In some cit- and all the lands were ruined or changed. ies these ruling oligarchies consisted entirely of the "Adûnâi," The drowning of Beleriand in the War of Wrath had lesser, wealthy citizens of traceable and purely Dúnadan descent. Among though still cataclysmic, repercussions throughout Middle-earth, themselves they spoke only the traditional tongues of Númenor: one of which was the desiccation of Haradwaith. Within a few Adûnaic and Sindarin (and later only Adûnaic). In other cities, centuries, the vast forests of Bellakar had given way to desert. A the “mixed-blooded” class, known as the Bellakaze, held some few sizable oases remained, vestiges of the Elder Days, but only share of wealth and power. They spoke a language as mixed as along the coasts did woodlands linger. To these forests the Hon- their heritage (also called “Bellakaze”) that became the speech of nin removed. The other ancient dwellers of the land, spirits and trade and lore all through Bellakar, even penetrating into the re- Elves and Dwarves, hid themselves in secret places or fled far mote villages and desert trading stations where they treated with away. It is not uncommon in the desert or even in an oasis to find the wandering nomads of the Haradwaith. watch-stones and rock paintings—evidence of one-time Honnin The rising power of the Bellakaze came in spite of the refusal of occupation. Some tales tell that guardian spirits linger in these most of the Adûnâi to recognize any of the “Lesser Men” of Mid- places, ready to punish trespassers. dle-earth as their equals in judgment and character. It also came The Cuind left their refuges in Khibil Êphalak and around the at the expense of the Bellanarod, the purely Southron people who blessed lake in the once green hills at the beginning of the Second still made up the majority of the population of the cities and an Age, separating into two groups. The smaller refused to aban- even higher proportion of the village peasantry subject to those doned their homeland, moved to hidden oases in the Auz Azunan, cities. To be a Bellanar was to learn humility, to be limited in what the “Hills of the Spiritual People,” and to a secret refuge in the one could achieve in the way of wealth and social position. When Urîd an-Abâr, where they established flet-villages. The larger the cities were well-ruled and at peace, this divided way of life group fled Bellakar for greener lands, and, under their leader served the Bellakaranî well enough. Leaders could talk of the Elor, migrated across the southwesternmost peninsula of Endor, “three strong hands, held together” to support the nation. When settling in the forest of Drel. Like the Honnin, those few Cuind war, religion or politics caused pain and conflict, the three hands and Hawnin who remained in Bellakar had very few relations would become claws to tear at one another’s flesh. with the later inhabitants of that land. In the 12th and 13th centuries of the Second Age, the 2 Realm of Bellakar tain of the Venturers and cousin to Tar- Súrion the king, took haven at the mouth of a river which they named Rothló. The place of Ciryandur’s landing became the site for the first perma- nent Dúnadan colony in Bellakar: Hazaj Tol- lin (a name of Bel- lakaze origin). A second significant foundation appeared in 1487 at the inland oasis of Ithillond, as an outpost of Hazaj Tollin, then seeking to exercise control over the emerging caravan trade westward into Bellazen and the Fe- layja. Other important coastal settlements were established by the Guild of Venturers in 1644 at Ost Dora- nor and in 1780 at Thorombar, both be- coming important cities with the passage of years. The Númenóreans were not the only colo- nizers staking claims on the coasts of Bel- lakar. The Bozish- narod of Raj, began a long tradition of chal- lenging the commer- cial supremacy of Númenor on the Bay of Tulwang with the foundation of the lu- crative entrepôt of Na- jmol. To close this un- certain frontier on the eastern flank of their growing colonies, the Númenórean Guild of Venturers began crossing the sea directly Dúnedain laid the foundation of Korlea in 1975, uprooting local from their ports in Númenor. Taking the great Cape of Mardruak tribes and supplanting Bozishnara influence. as their landfall and using Bellakarian ports, they explored the In 2022, under Tar-Ciryatan of Númenor, this patchwork of whole of Bellakar, including its arid lands. In the following centu- settlements achieved coherence through the institution of the ries, slowly, over many lives of Men, Númenóreans came to colo- Council of Free Cities, a loose federation governed by an elected nize the coasts of Middle-earth, and ties between the Bellakaze body. Initiative for this decree came from Aldamir II, lord of and the Men of the West grew stronger. Concubinage of Bel- Hazaj Tollin, the most prominent city of the league.

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